until the last minute

It was raining, and the air was filled with a lot of water vapor. Zhou Yin went to close the window, and the closer he got to the window, the stronger the earthy smell.Li Qing followed and put the ointment back on the table without turning on the light. With the faint light from the street lamp outside, Zhou Yin saw Li Qing wrinkled his nose and even frowned.

"What's wrong? Want to leave?"

Li Qing shook his head and asked, "Is there a garden downstairs? The smell of earth is very strong."

Zhou Yin tilted his head and thought for a while, "There are no flowers, but there are some vegetables grown by my mother."

Li Qing couldn't help laughing, Zhou Yin suddenly grabbed his hand, and said strangely: "Your hands are not very sticky, why is the place where you applied the medicine itchy, I thought the ointment was very sticky."

Li Qing was startled, and nervously said: "Itchy? Are you allergic?"

"Probably not, I've never been allergic." Zhou Yin let go of his hand.

Li Qing subconsciously clenched his fists. His palms were dry, but the cold and delicate skin remained on his fingertips.

The heavy rain was still pouring outside the window, Zhou Yin repeated the question just now, "Do you want to go?"

He didn't give Li Qing a chance to answer, he took his hand again, and led him to the next room, "It's not now if you want to go, rest for a while, you come with me."

The guest room is spacious and tidy, with the same layout as Zhou Yin's bedroom, with all bedding available.Zhou Yin couldn't help but put the man on the bed, he squeezed between Li Qing's legs and stood domineeringly, his tone pretended to be fierce: "Stay here, don't leave until the rain stops."

Sitting on the bed, Li Qing raised his head and looked at Zhou Yin. The moment his eyes met, Li Qing suddenly compromised, "Listen to you, I'll just stay."

"That's what you said." Zhou Yin held back the corners of his raised lips, and when he let go, he realized that they were still holding hands. He said good night without changing his expression, and added that he would come to wake him up tomorrow when he walked to the door. Yes, finally close the door and lock Li Qing, who was sitting motionless, inside the door.

The hand he held for a long time was a little hot, Zhou Yin went back to the bedroom clutching his palm, and stood against the back of the door, the rain was gurgling outside the window, as if it was going to pour down into his heart.

In the early hours of the morning, Zhou Yin woke up from his sleep, and after recovering in the dark, he found that he could no longer hear the sound of rain.He recalled that as early as when he was tossing and turning and having difficulty falling asleep, the sound of the rain had gradually died down.

The surrounding area was very quiet. He opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling. All kinds of chaotic thoughts ran through his mind, and the last thing he remembered was that Li Qing was sleeping next door.This fact was obviously the most obvious, and he hadn't forgotten it, but tried to avoid thinking about it.

It seems that as long as he doesn't take the initiative to think about it, he can suppress the thoughts of wanton growth in his heart.

He turned over and tried to fall asleep again, but his consciousness became more and more lucid.There is a tight string in his mind, and the more energy he accumulates, the more tense it makes him flustered.He sat up abruptly, got out of bed, opened the door, and saw the scene of the next room with just one glance—the door was open, and there was no one on the bed.

The lights were on downstairs, Zhou Yin leaned out of the railing, there was no one in the living room, and the dining room and balcony were blind spots.He trotted down the stairs, barefoot, the marble tiles cold and slick, he was not holding on to the banister, he was running so fast that he always had the illusion that he was about to fall.

When he came to the first floor, Zhou Yin hadn't even breathed yet when he heard Li Qing call him, he turned around, Li Qing came out from the back of the stairs, glanced at his bare feet, and immediately frowned and said: " Why did you come down without your shoes on?"

Zhou Yin felt embarrassed, he backed away, Li Qing stretched out his hand and dragged him to the front, looking at him with scrutiny: "What's wrong with you, are you having a nightmare or sleepwalking?"

Zhou Yin stiffened his neck and refused to speak, Li Qing gave up the slippers under his feet, kicked them to Zhou's feet, and said concisely: "Put them on."

"how about you?"

Li Qing showed him his dirty left hand, "You wear it, I'm going to take a shower again."

"Why did you go?"

Li Qing took a step closer and lowered his voice: "Let's talk upstairs, don't disturb Auntie's rest."

He touched Zhou Yin with a clean wrist, urging Zhou Yin to put on his shoes quickly.Zhou Yin put on his slippers, grabbed Li Qing's hand unexpectedly, and pulled him up the stairs together.

"My hands are dirty."

"I know, I don't dislike you."

Zhou Yin asked Li Qing to take a bath in his bedroom on the grounds that the bathroom in the guest room had not been used for a long time.They huddled in the sink to wash their hands, Li Qing washed his hands, and took off his upper body pajamas in front of him, and after taking off, he asked, "Do you mind?"

Zhou Yin rolled his eyes at him angrily, handed him the bath towel, and took the clothes he took off.Li Qing stripped himself naked before entering the bathroom. Not long after entering, Zhou Yin knocked on the door and brought in a pair of shorts.

Throwing all the clothes changed tonight into the washing machine and stirring, Zhou Yin supported the washing machine with both hands, drooped his head, and yawned several times in succession due to sleepiness.The dim light above his head was like a dense dream, and he was sometimes awake and sometimes confused in this dream, and every moment when he was almost asleep, he forced himself to cheer up.

He didn't dare to fall asleep again, in case Li Qing left again, the quilt on the bed in the guest room was neatly folded, if Li Qing didn't plan to leave just now, he wouldn't believe it.

When Li Qing came out of the shower, Zhou Yin blinked vigorously, trying to clear his sight.He beckoned to Li Qing, and Li Qing walked over, wearing only shorts all over his body, the shorts were a little too small for him, and only reached the base of his thighs, where the bulges should be bulging, and his two long legs stimulated straight eyeball.

Zhou Yin felt a little resentful, "Why do my clothes look too small for you? What did you eat to make you so strong?"

Li Qing had a smile on his face, and the two brothers seemed to pat Zhou Yin on the shoulder, "I practiced sports in junior high school, you can be like me if you eat more."

"I don't want to be like you," Zhou Yin muttered in a low voice, he raised his eyelids, and asked, "Can we talk now? What did you do just now?"

Li Qing put away his smile, hesitated for a while before speaking: "It's nothing, I went downstairs to pour a glass of water to drink, and turned it off when I saw that the light on the first floor was not turned off. The light is out, let me fix it for you."

"It's a trivial matter, but Auntie doesn't look right. I mean emotionally. Is there any difficulty for her? I think I should tell you."

Zhou Yin's expression was not surprised, he just let out a long and heavy breath, rubbed his temples tiredly, and said, "Can you go to bed and tell me, I'm a little sleepy."

The lights in the bathroom and bedroom were all turned off, and it was pitch black within sight.Zhou Yin got on the bed, patted the other side of the bed, and signaled Li Qing to lie down too.The two lay face to face, Zhou Yin moved his body with great effort, and drew closer to each other until he smelled the scent of Li Qing.

It smells the same as the shower gel on my body.

He closed his eyes and said in a deep voice: "You must have heard it from others, the classmates in your class, the girl you rescued, didn't they tell you about my family?"

"When I was young, my dad would come to visit us often. I forgot when he stopped coming. My mom was waiting for him all the time. She didn't lock the door at night and didn't allow me to turn off the lights. Even the furnishings in her room were so It hasn't changed in years."

"I know it's not right for her, but I can't help it. I can't persuade her."

"Do you want to take Auntie to the hospital?" Li Qing tentatively asked, but Zhou Yin asked: "For what reason? Should I tell her that she is sick?"

"That's not what I meant." Li Qing was silent for a few seconds, put his hand on Zhou Yin's head, and touched it comfortingly.

Zhou Yin's head sank completely into the soft pillow, and without saying a word, he pulled the blanket over with one hand and stretched it.Li Qing helped him tuck the corner of the quilt, Zhou Yin exposed his face from the pillow, rolled his eyes at Li Qing, he lifted the quilt towards him, and said, "Are you an idiot?"

Li Qing was a little confused, so while stretching the quilt for the two of them, he suddenly remembered what happened this morning, and came to his senses: "So you went to see the apartment, do you want to move?"

"That's what I think, and my mother disagrees."

Zhou Yin's sigh was so low that it could hardly be heard, Li Qing asked: "Is there no other way?"

"Yes, of course." Zhou Yin sneered, "Let my dad come back, and the problem will be solved."

Li Qing listened silently, he pulled the thin quilt to his chest, and put his hands in the quilt.I don't know whether it was by accident or on purpose, he touched Zhou Yin's hand, it was cool, he shook it, and separated with the touch.

Zhou Yin rubbed his face against the pillow, his eyes drooping.Li Qing whispered to sleep, Zhou Yin raised his eyes to look at him, they became silent together, and sleep came from a deeper place.Before falling asleep, Li Qing remembered that he hadn't answered Zhou Yin yet, so he mumbled with all his strength: "There will be other ways, I'll help you think about it when I wake up."

He seemed to smile when he heard Zhou Yin, but he didn't open his eyes to confirm it. The bed was like the sea, and his consciousness flowed into the deeper ocean like waves. Li Qing fell into sleep almost immediately.

We met again at school. The flag-raising ceremony on Monday was canceled due to rain, and there was more time for recess between classes.Zhou Yin thought the classroom was stuffy, so he went to stand in the corridor to cool off.Li Qing and another classmate passed by carrying bottled water.

It was Li Qing who stopped to say hello first, Zhou Yin didn't plan to stop him.

Li Qing asked: "Did you not bring the medicine here? I saw it was still on the table when I went out in the morning."

"I didn't bring it, I don't need it." Zhou Yin said vaguely, he didn't want to discuss private matters in public, but Li Qing stupidly persuaded him: "You need to apply that ointment three or four times a day, otherwise it won't get better."

"You carry the water back first."

The classmates next to him looked at them back and forth, Zhou Yin couldn't ignore the deep meaning in the eyes hovering on him.He could only say with a cold face: "You don't need to worry about it, you can go back quickly."

Li Qing carried the bottled water back to the classroom and helped change it. Zhou Yin could see it clearly from the corridor.Their classrooms are next to each other, and he only needs to scan roughly to see where Li Qing is sitting, the last row is the seat closest to the window.Li Qing returned to his seat, bent down and groped in the drawer for a while, then straightened up, and looked over with exact eyes.

Zhou Yin wanted to go back to the classroom immediately, but he put his hands in his pockets, and Li Qing was already walking towards him quickly.

"Wait, here's it for you." Li Qing spread out his palm, it was an unused Voltaren ointment, "I just bought it by the way, so I know you didn't bring it."

Zhou Yin really didn't expect it, and was speechless for nearly half a minute.Li Qing directly stuffed the ointment into his hand, Zhou Yin held the ointment, bitterly said: "Even if you give it to me, how can I use it by myself."

"I'll help you." Li Qing's tone was very natural, as if he had given him such a good choice.